In the Hands of a Guardian
by Anonys
Summary: Sora is missing. Heartless are spotted in other worlds than Kingdom Hearts. What is an ex-guardian supposed to do? Her job, that is.
1. I Demon Diary

Hi. I'm Anonys. This story is based on an idea I had of a person who could visit any world they wanted. Movies, games, books, any story is fair game here. Sorry if it's a little adult-ish sounding, but I've had to read some adult books lately and my writing is reflecting that --. If you see a phrase in italics, that means she's thinking it. Anyway, on to the disclaimer!

None of the characters in this story except Karyn, Jynkal, Amarak, the Council, and the main character belong to me. The others are the property of Squaresoft and the author of Demon Diary (sorry, don't remember her name). Kingdom Hearts doesn't really come into play for another chapter yet. Enjoy.

Chapter I - Demon Diary

"You are the guardian of all worlds," he had said. 'Guardian of all worlds,' such an understatement. How could you call what I do 'guarding'? I go to a world, mess around a bit, finish my job, and leave. Easy, right? No way. I get to start wars, save kings, kill emperors, and chat with dragons all in one day. Sounds fun, don't you think? It has its perks. I've been doing it for nine years now. Ever since I was ten I've been traveling all over the universe doing the Council's dirty work, but I've had it.

Three days ago, Vincent came to tell me of the Council's decision on my request for retirement. They had been reviewing my situation to 'determine my compliance with the required standards.' Apparently a guardian keeps their position for centuries. However, I was a last resort, so to speak, when their last guardian was killed in a Link world. He had been investigating the recent growth of darkness within the world's heart. Let's just say that when he returned, he wasn't really himself. He took the lives of three world guardians and those of all his possible replacements. They were just lucky I was discovered after he was subdued otherwise I'd be dead as well. By the way, guardians are normally guys. Don't ask me why, I just take what I'm given, even if it puts me in a situation where I'm the only female in a male-dominated career. Anyway, they'd recently found a compatible guardian in one of the other Link worlds, sector K-H, I think, who had all the right traits and abilities for my job.

It feels so good now to kick back and relax knowing someone else can do the job. At first I didn't believe Vincent when he gave me the news. After all, wasn't he the one who told me my position would probably last for at least 300 years? Jerk. Ah well, he's just a carrier boy. He doesn't make the rules, he just delivers them.

"What 'cha doin'?" I turned to look at the speaker as I snapped out of my daydream. It was just Jynkal. The little elf was looking at me with curiosity in his eyes. A dragon that had followed him in was perched on the corner of my desk. It regarded me with a calm stillness that gave the impression it was more than it looked to be.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"Nothing," he replied, "but Karyn needs some help with a new spell she's been trying. She almost blew up the Observatory a little while ago. She told me not to say anything, but I just thought you'd like to know." He trotted out of the room, whistling to the dragon to come along.

"Keep an eye on him for me, will you?" I asked it as it turned to follow. It flew off with a quick nod as I put my work away and followed them. – _Today's my last day. I'll have to break the news lightly, though. Karyn won't be very happy when her teacher decides to just uproot and leave._ –

I made my way to the Observatory at the castle's top level. Of course, Demon Lords are required to have a sinister-looking castle somewhere atop a large mountain. I had messed with the rule a bit, though. There was a touch of color on the walls of every room, betraying the evil look on the outside. The color would fade, turning to damp stone whenever another Demon Lord or an unexpected visitor would arrive. It was a safeguard designed to prevent any unwanted company from surprising me. I noticed a dark green ball floating in the air above Karyn's head as I topped the last staircase.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked as I came to a stop a few feet away from her.

"Trying out a new spell Krayon taught me," Karyn replied sheepishly. The ball above her started to turn a deeper shade of green as it dawned on me what it really was.

"Are you insane? Do you know what that is?!" I nearly screamed.

"Ummm...."

"That is a Transit Ball, you dolt!" I yelled. "You summon demons with those! What was Krayon thinking? Put that thing away before something decides to come through it!" But it was too late.

A dark shadow suddenly appeared on the ground beneath our feet, as if something had crossed the sun. Karyn's Transit Ball disappeared with a whiff of smoke as a dark shape began to rise out of the shadow between us.

"Um, master..." Karyn said.

The darkness started to take form. Round yellow eyes glared out at me below two jagged tentacles as the hunched-over form, now resembling a small child, started twitching. – _That's no demon..._ –

"Karyn run!" I yelled. She was frozen, staring at the small creature that had come between us. Her head snapped up to look at me when I called. The creature followed her lead and turned to stare at me, its body twitching as if tiny threads were pulling at it.

"Karyn, get your butt out of here!" I yelled again. This time she reacted. I could hear her footsteps echoing down the stairway. The creature hadn't noticed. It was still staring at me with its bright yellow eyes. The creature's hands were gathered in toward its chest, as if it was cold. The whole set-up gave it the look of an upright insect. The shadow on the floor had disappeared, leaving no trace that it had once been there.

"Now, what are you..." I thought aloud as I called on my powers, casting a spell to scan the creature. – _What's this._ – A brownish tinge was mixed in with the black of the creature's body. – _Brown is human, but the black remains. Black...I've never seen black before._ –

The creature forgot about me and quickly glanced around the room. It sprinted off down the stairway, the same way Karyn had gone.

"Oh no, you don't!" I called as I ran after it. We passed Jynkal and Karyn in the main hall as the creature raced onward. They backed away as it ran by them. The two of us raced on to the staircase leading to the basement. I called on Flight to give me wings so I could keep up with the creature. I don't normally use that skill, but explanations could be given later (Flight isn't a Demon Lord skill). I was starting to feel fatigued when it ran under one of the doors lining the hallway. I hadn't had time enough to explore my castle fully yet, so by that time I had only a very vague idea where we were. There was no light coming from under the door, so I drew out a light from my power as I released the wings and carefully opened the door.

It was a dusty old storage room, one that was probably once used by the castle's past inhabitants. Considering the fact that all of my servants were walking shades, I didn't need all of the storage rooms in my castle to accommodate for large numbers of servants and guests. The walls of the room were lined with shelves of vials, boxes, and dangerous-looking items that I had already decided to check out as soon as this little problem was dealt with. I looked into a small amber bottle on one of the shelves. A soft blue light was emanating from within it. I picked it up and stared into it, feeling as if I was being drawn into that blue haze. The sudden darkness that accompanied the disappearance of my ball of light brought me back to my senses. – _That was close._ – A crash came from the back of the room. I set the bottle back on the shelf and drew out another light. I started walking toward the back of the room, making my way around the boxes that were scattered across the floor. I started to see a slight shadow of a deeper black than the surrounding darkness.

"What 'cha doin'?" I whirled around. Jynkal was standing behind me. – _Does this kid make a habit of popping up at the most unexpected times, or is it just me?_ – The dragon was perched lightly on his shoulder, staring into the darkness behind me with its dark eyes violet.

"Hey, what's that?" Jynkal asked as he pointed at the shadow behind me. I saw it in the reflection off one of the vials on a shelf next to me. It started to move further into the room. I slowly turned around, ordering Jynkal, "Leave immediately. Find Karyn and go to Raenef's. If I'm not there by tomorrow ... don't come looking for me."

"Why?" Jynkal asked.

"Eclipse will know what to do," I replied. "Now go!"

The dragon jumped off his shoulder as he ran out of the room. It flew over to me and landed on my left shoulder as Jynkal's footsteps faded down the hallway. We faced the dark shadow that was now huddled in the back of the room.

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into here?" Amarak, the dragon, asked. His voice was somewhat deep, betraying his small, gray exterior. His bat-like wings were folded in close to his sides and his pointed tail flicked back and forth in an agitated motion, much like a cat waiting silently for its prey. His eyes stared straight ahead, now light blue to reflect his fear.

"I don't know, you tell me," I replied, angry now.

"You don't have to be so curt," he said, looking at me with a touch of green in his eyes. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to be respectful to your elders?"

"I'm sure she would have if she'd been around to do it," I replied. "What is this thing, anyway? It looks like a Nithling, but I've never seen one like this before."

"It's like a Nithling, but not quite," he explained. "I saw one of these once, back when I last visited my home world. The Council called them 'Heartless.'"

"I thought you said your world was destroyed?"

"It was," he replied grimly.

"Oh."

"We don't really know what these are quite yet, but make sure not to touch it!" The creature had lunged toward us. Amarak jumped off my shoulder as I moved to avoid it. The creature ran out of the room heading deeper into the depths of the castle. – _Here we go again._ –


	2. II Demon Diary Kingdom Hearts

Hello again. This is Anonys. The chapters aren't very long in this story because I try to make a new one every time they change worlds. It might be a little confusing (and very overwhelming), but I'll give an explanation of the situation in the story. If you have any questions at all or if you need a better explanation, feel free to e-mail me anytime. Now, on to the disclaimer!

None of the characters in this story belong to me except Amarak, the Council, the main character, and Tifa in the KH world. All the others belong to Funimation, Squaresoft, and Disney. Enjoy.

Chapter II - Demon Diary / Kingdom Hearts

(feel free to skip this part and come back later if it's too confusing ')

Before we get too involved in this story, let me tell you a little bit about myself and the life of a guardian. In actuality I'm 19 years old with brown hair and hazel eyes. Yes, I'm a woman as well --. Because my job requires me to fit into so many different roles, I have to change my appearance and age to fit the world I'm in. Yes, sometimes I even have to change my gender as well (though I don't like staying in those worlds for too long, very uncomfortable).

The first world that I visited was a somewhat peaceful place that went by the common name: Dual Hearts. Wait, you don't know what common names and Link worlds (mentioned earlier) are, do you? Sorry. Let me explain. A Link world is a world that is at the central meeting point of several other worlds. In some Link worlds, you can see, visit, or in some cases, dream of the connected worlds. Take your own world for example. You have these things called video games, books, and movies. Do you know how these came to be? Well, I'm not really sure whether peoples' dreams create other worlds or if peoples' dreams and ideas come from other worlds, but either way, a Link world provides a "link" to the worlds around it. Each Link world has a regular guardian just like it's branching worlds, but it also has a Link guardian. Link world guardians maintain the relations between all the worlds in a sector. They may originate from their Link world, but they don't always live there.

Link worlds are grouped into sectors and the branching worlds are given numbers along with code letters from their main Link world. Thus they get their "code name." However, you wouldn't want to build a summer home in world KH:451, would you? Just as your world is called Earth, not Sector E, each Link world and branching world has its own "common name" that is used by the inhabitants of that world. Each branching world has its own guardian. Their job is to maintain peace in their own world. In some, people even know they exist. Take world MR:42 (better known to you as Dragon Ball), their guardians live near them and sometimes make known contact with their people.

Sorry for the overwhelming info there. I'll make sure to explain it little by little during the story to avoid further confusion. Here's a start: guardians live in or visit different worlds, trying to maintain the balance of power and equality. If anything were to happen that would disrupt that balance...I try not to think of the consequences.

"So what does this mean then?" I asked Amarak as we pursued the creature.

"It means that there's something dark brewing here. Sorry, but you won't be able to sit on your butt any longer," he answered with a grin.

"Oh shut up," I replied. We chased the creature down another two flights of stairs. By this time I was hopelessly lost and, even with wings, I was having a hard time trying to keep up with the creature. Doors and pathways passed by in a blur as we sped down further into the castle. The chase reminded me of another time like this, back when I was still a young guardian...

"Wait up Squall! You're going too fast!" yelled the young girl as she chased after her brown-haired friend.

"Slowpoke! I bet even Aeris can run faster than you!" The boy, named Squall, called back as he ran on. He slowed down enough for her to catch up to him, a wide smile spreading across his face. The two friends had just returned from a visit to the gardens beneath the castle. The girl's heavy breathing echoed down the hallway as they slowed to a walk.

**"**Man, Tifa," Squall exclaimed, "I swear, you get weaker and weaker every day."

"Well, it's not as if I plan on becoming a world-class sprinter anytime soon!" She replied once she got her breath back.

"But really, you should start practicing more," he said. "You can ask one of the grownups to teach you sword-fighting or something."

She stopped and looked down. "I don't really like swords..."

Squall looked back at her. He started to get a little edgy when he noticed the tears welling up in her eyes. "W-why not? I mean, you never mind when Ansem and I are practicing."

"I don't know...I just...I just feel...scared whenever I'm facing someone who has a sword. Anyway, you guys don't look at anything else when you're practicing. All of your attention is focused on the movements of your opponent. You don't seem like a danger to me, that's all."

A spark came into his eyes as an idea crossed his mind. "This wouldn't have anything to do with those dreams you've been having, would it? You told me a few days ago about a crazy, silver-haired man with a long sword that always attacked you in your nightmares."

"Well, that might be it, but I don't think they're just dreams."

"Then what are they?" he asked.

"I think they're memories of home."

"Oh," whispered Squall. "I didn't think you remembered anything from your home."

"Not a whole lot, actually," she replied, "But you know how memories work. Things you'd think were long-forgotten reappear in your dreams. That's why some soldiers have such bad nightmares. Hey, isn't that Yuffie and Aeris?" She pointed down the corridor to two light shapes slowly walking toward them. The two girls could be heard arguing even as they walked down the hallway.

"There's no way that he liked you more than me! He was listening to me the entire time!" Aeris yelled at her companion, not even noticing the two silent figures down the hall.

"Well, no wonder, considering you wouldn't shut up! It looked more like he wanted to get a word or two in before you let loose any more of your big ego!" Yuffie retorted as they stopped a few feet away from their silent watchers.

"At least I'm not a flat-chested little peck with nothing but a pointy little rock to fight with!" was Aeris's angry reply.

"You wanna say that again, big-mouth?" Yuffie said as she faced Aeris and pulled out her Shuriken.

"I'd love to, peck!" Aeris drew out her staff. The two looked as if they were about to pound one another into the marble floor.

"You do know that fighting is restricted to the training area only, right?" Squall asked.

"Squall!" the girls exclaimed, noticing him for the first time.

"Even though I'd love to see just how much you two really hate each other, I have to warn you about how much Ansem hates it when pieces of his castle are broken off in fights between his students," he explained casually.

"Uh. We didn't even see you there...You didn't hear anything, did you?" Aeris asked forcefully.

"Because if you did, I'd hate to be where you are right now," Yuffie said as she glared at him menacingly.

Tifa, trying hard not to laugh, interjected. "We didn't hear anything as far as we're concerned, right Squall?" She looked over at him and he nodded.

"What do you two want anyway?" He asked.

"Well, Ansem and some cute guy are having a 'grown-up's only' talk in the main hall and they asked us to first," Aeris raised a finger, "get you two, and to second," she raised up another, "find someone else's time to waste."

"Yeah. He can be really rude when company's around," Yuffie added.

"What exactly did this 'cute guy' look like?" Tifa asked.

"Well I guess cute would be an understatement for this guy. Did you see the eyes on him?" Yuffie asked Aeris. "I was feeling shivers the whole time."

"Yeah, and those clothes? I always said men looked hot in uniforms." Aeris added.

"Well, I wouldn't call it a uniform," Yuffie argued. "It looked more like a casual dinner suit to me."

"Casual dinner suit my butt. There is no way he is going to a dinner in that!" Aeris argued back.

"Well, who are you to know? We don't even know his name. How can you be sure he's not going to a dinner party, hmm?"

"Well if I know suits, and trust me I know suits, that is definitely NOT a dinner suit! Someone who could buy a suit that expensive wouldn't waste time at a dinner party, he'd be too busy ordering his personal butler to get more champagne!"

"You wanna bet?" Yuffie snapped.

"Yeah, I do!" Aeris countered. Once more, their weapons appeared in their hands.

"Umm, I think we'll be heading to the main hall now if that's all right with you two?" Tifa interjected. The two girls came out of their rage enough to nod to her and move apart so the two could make their way down the hall. The girls' fight commenced as the two friends headed to the main hall.

"You'd think they want to kill each other by the way those two fight," Squall commented.

"I await the day they finally realize that they only hate each other because they're so much alike," Tifa said and got an answering laugh from her companion.


	3. III Kingdom Hearts

Hi, this is Anonys again (finally). This just happens to be a VERY long chapter (5 pages double spaced), so I'm sorry about the long read. If you want to check it out, I wrote a story about Amarak on the original fiction site. It's called, "What Lies in the Heart of a Dragon." It's under the action category (considering it's full of it) and you might enjoy it.

disclaimer: None of the characters in this story belong to me except Amarak, the Council, the main character, and Tifa in the KH world. All the others belong to Squaresoft, CLAMP, and Disney. Enjoy.

Chapter III - Kingdom Hearts

When they arrived, they were met with the sight of two men talking casually near the fountain in the center of the hall. Tifa stopped suddenly as the two figures came into view.

"Am I leaving so soon?" she asked. Ansem turned to her with a smile. The man who had been talking to him looked over to Tifa with a sad look in his dark eyes. He seemed to be around 18 to 20 years old and was wearing a dark blue suit. His black hair only added to his mysterious look.

"I'm sorry, but you've been called back early."

Tifa's eyes filled with tears. "But I've only been here for six months. I can't leave yet!" Her hands went to her eyes as she started crying. Squall looked at her as if she had just sprouted horns and he started backing away. The man in the suit rose from his chair and went over to the crying girl. He knelt on the ground and hugged her close, not unlike what a brother would do for a young sister.

He whispered into her ear, "I'm sorry to have to do this. I know it's on short notice, but the Council wanted to speak to you immediately and no amount of arguing on my part could change their mind." Tifa's tears stopped suddenly as she stepped back and looked closely at the man.

"I'm afraid," he said, "that you probably won't be able to return to this world again."

"What do you mean?" she whispered. He stood up and wiped off her tears with a handkerchief. Aeris and Yuffie burst through the door. Band-aids could be seen on their arms and legs, evidence of their earlier fight. They had been arguing but they abruptly stopped and stared silently, for the first time in their lives, at the two figures.

"Well, I think this is a cue for these two ladies and I to leave for a little while," Ansem announced. He walked towards the two watching girls and, with arms outstretched, started shooing them out the door.

"But, but we just got here!" Aeris complained.

"Yeah!" Yuffie agreed as they turned around to head out the door.

"I think these three need some 'alone time' now," Ansem said. "He's come a long way and he needs to speak to his sister and Squall alone." He looked them in the eye and they stopped complaining. The door closed silently behind them and Tifa, Squall, and the man were left alone.

"Sister!" Tifa exclaimed once the three were out of earshot. "Vincent, are you out of your mind?"

"I guess you could say that," he answered, "but it was a necessary precaution. I didn't think he'd leave us alone if I'd said I was here to call back the supreme guardian of the universe who just happened to have lived with him for almost a year now and who needs to go back to her job of protecting the balance of every planet in the universe just so he can rest at peace with the hope that she'll protect his world from every form of harm and instigated disaster that might accidentally disturb the fabric of this world's core or in the instance that–"

"Okay, okay, I get the idea." Tifa interrupted. "You've been rehearsing this haven't you?"

"12 times in fact." He replied with a smile.

"You and your big mouth…" Tifa murmured as she shook her head.

"So, is this the one?" Vincent asked as the two turned toward Squall.

"Yes," she sighed, "but he's still very young. I'm not sure if you should give him this large of a responsibility yet."

"Are you sure age isn't the only reason you don't want him to get the job?" he said with a wink.

"What are you implying?"

"Only that the great Supreme Guardian is starting to have some feelings for her young companion." He grinned.

"Shove it, leech. No one asked you for your opinion on my personal life," she snapped.

"Perfect. Just because you yelled at me gives me all the proof I need to know that my suspicions were true," he said smugly. She turned to glare at him.

"What did you mean by responsibility?" Squall asked. The two looked at him.

"It's the reason she, uhh…Tifa was sent here," Vincent replied. "It's Tifa here, right?"

"Yes." She rolled her eyes and looked at Squall. "You were chosen to be the guardian of this world." Tifa explained. "Your job will be to maintain the peace within this realm. It is a great responsibility and it requires a large amount of patience and training. I was going to tell you when you were older and had a little more experience, but I guess matters have been taken out of my hands." She looked at Vincent.

"So I get to protect this world?" Squall asked.

"Pretty much."

"Protecting it is only one part of the job," Vincent added, "but it's a large portion of what you will be doing. Along with protecting, you will also regulate inter-world travel, monitor the movement of inter-world travelers, maintain the relations between the races of the world, keep secret the identity of all guardians and inter-world travelers, mark any violations of code, watch for any abnormalities that occur within the world's core, keep track of–"

"Okay, okay, I think he gets the idea," Tifa interrupted. "Do you have any questions?"

"Yeah, what did you mean when you said you wanted to wait until I was a little more experienced?" Squall asked.

"Well, you're not quite old enough to understand fully the enormous responsibility you have been given. I also wanted to wait until you knew a little more about fighting."

"Why do I need to know about fighting?"

"Well, you won't only be watching this world, you'll be defending it as well. You need experience with weapons and skills so that you can keep off any enemies that might want to take over this world."

"Are you a guardian as well?"

"Yep," she answered with a smile, "but I guard more than just one world."

"Then that means you had to learn to fight too?"

"Yeah," she replied sheepishly. She scratched her head. "Well, SG's, or Supreme Guardians, have to be able to use a weapon called a 'keyblade.' It's an adapted version of a short sword that can be used to penetrate into the heart of a world."

"Wow, do you have it with you?"

"Yes," she answered. A white sword appeared in her hand. Pink blooms resembling cherry blossoms were spread out along its length. The whole sword was in the shape of a large key. Hanging from its pommel was a keychain with a charm in the shape of a tree. "This is a keyblade. They come in all shapes and sizes, depending on the charm hanging from the pommel, or blunt end." She showed him the tree. "This charm was given to me by a guardian named Mokona. I helped him in his world for a short time. Once everything had calmed down, he gave me this."

"Does it always just appear in your hand like that?"

"It comes when it's needed. SG's aren't the only ones who have keyblades. Some special world guardians have them, but there's only 5 who do and they can't change the shape of theirs like I can with mine."

"I thought you hated swords?"

"This one isn't like other swords. It doesn't really cut like others do." She looked down.

"To get back on topic," Vincent interrupted, "you will eventually become the guardian of this world. A teacher will come in a few days to instruct you in the use of some weapons and the job of a guardian."

"How long will it take for me to learn?" Squall asked.

"It should take around four years for instruction and for you to learn the necessary fighting skills."

"Four years!"

"The time it takes to learn depends on who is the one learning," Tifa corrected him. Squall noticed that the sword was gone from her hand. "It only took me half a year to learn it all and I have the whole universe to protect."

"Well, it does vary, but four years is the average," Vincent said. "Besides, you had the whole universe as your training grounds. Now with that out of the way, we'd best be going." He turned toward the door leading outside.

"Where are you going?" Squall asked, worried. Vincent stopped.

"Do we have to leave so soon?" Tifa asked.

"I'm sorry, but you are expected at the Council before sundown in their world," Vincent said as he turned to face them again. "That only gives us two hours to travel. What with packing and saying goodbye to everyone, we will have to rush to make it there on time. Besides, any world matters that will occur must be taken care of by the world guardian and his people only. You cannot help in this world any longer. You'd only be in the way."

"But there must be something I can do to help here," Tifa begged. "Surely Cid won't be able to teach him everything he needs to know by himself?"

"You know as well as I do how capable of a teacher Cid is. Squall will be fine with him. Now, you'd better go say your goodbyes. We're running out of daylight."

"All right. But, can you leave Squall and I alone for a few minutes." Vincent looked as if he was about to object. "Don't worry, I won't take up more than five minutes of your precious daylight, all right?"

"Fine." He stalked out the door to wait outside. Tifa turned to Squall.

"Do you really have to go like this?" Squall asked.

"I'm sorry. I'd stay if I could, but the Council will be furious if I don't return in the allotted time. They get really strict about things like that." The two stared silently at one another until Tifa looked down and took a ring from her finger. She took Squall's hand and placed the ring in his palm. "Don't lose this. My father gave it to me. It's the only thing I have to remember him by."

"Then why are you giving it to me?"

"Because I want you to have it. My dad told me to give it to someone who is special to me. Someone who I want to be there with me when times get rough. Someone who I don't want to forget me." She closed his fingers around the ring. "I want to remember the time I spent here. This has been the only world I've visited so far that has reminded me of my home. The only one where I've found a family." She looked into his eyes with a smile. "And friends." Squall looked down at their hands and, for the first time, wasn't embarrassed.

"Tifa, there's something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time now." He looked up at her, compassion showing in his eyes. "I've known you for less than a year and it seems as if we've been friends for our entire lives." He took her other hand in his. "I guess what I'm trying to say is–"

"Tifa, Tifa! Say it's not true! Say you're not going away!" Yuffie cried as she raced into the room. Squall and Tifa jumped apart as she ran toward them. "Ansem just told us you're going away with the cute guy! You can't really be leaving can you? Please say it isn't so!" She ran up and hugged Tifa, sobbing into her shirt as Ansem and Aeris, carrying a suitcase, arrived at the door.

"I'm sorry Yuffie, but I have to go," Tifa explained as she patted Yuffie's head. "I promise I'll be back to see you sometime, I just have to go on a little trip for now. That's all."

"A little trip?" Yuffie stopped crying. "You mean you won't be gone forever?"

"I don't plan on it," Tifa replied, thinking back on what Vincent had said.

"Well then," Yuffie said as she wiped the tears from her eyes and straightened up. "You're really not leaving for good?"

"No, I'm not, so I expect you to grow up and be a great ninja by the time I return, okay?"

"You bet!" Yuffie exclaimed. "I won't let you down." She moved back as Aeris stepped in to say her goodbye.

"So how long do you think you'll be away?" She asked.

"It should be a few years or so, nothing big," Tifa answered.

"A few years isn't too long."

"Do you think you could teach me the finer points of using a staff when I return?"

"I'd love to!" Aeris replied as a smile lit up her face. "But you can't chicken out on me like you did last time, all right?"

"Deal."

"Good, here's your things." Aeris handed Tifa the suitcase and joined Yuffie as Ansem walked up to Tifa.

"I guess this is goodbye," he said.

"Only for awhile," Tifa corrected him.

"Only for awhile. I suppose this means you won't be needing any more sword instruction next time you come here?"

"Definitely not!" Tifa replied.

"Ha ha ha. You always were one to avoid a fight. Well, it's been a pleasure to be your teacher. I expect you will do big things in your lifetime and I wish you luck with them all." They shook hands and he turned to walk away.

"Yes, plenty of big things," Tifa whispered. Ansem turned back.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied. "Just thinking of the future."

"Yes. The future is sure to hold a lot for all of us," he said mysteriously. Tifa noticed a notebook he held in his left hand. The word 'Heartless' was written on the front cover. Tifa was about to ask him about it when Vincent came back inside.

"Sorry to interrupt the sad goodbyes, but we must be on our way," he said as he motioned for Tifa to head outside.

"I'm really going to miss you all," she said before turning to go. "You're the closest thing to a true family that I've ever had. Goodbye." She waved to them as she walked toward the door.

I was brought back to my senses as I ran into a wall.


End file.
